International Tribunals

Article 41 of the United Nations Charter gives the Security Council the authority to use a variety of measures to enforce its decisions. The Council regularly creates subsidiary organs to support or implement these measures. These organs have included international tribunals which have tried people responsible for serious crimes under international humanitarian law or in cases where the Government has requested the assistance of the Council in investigating and prosecuting cases. Below are short descriptions prepared on the basis of the content of the Repertoire for each of the tribunals, as well as links to the sections covering them in the Repertoire.

International Tribunal for the Prosecution of Persons Responsible for Genocide and Other Serious Violations of International Humanitarian Law Committed in the Territory of Rwanda and Rwandan Citizens Responsible for Genocide and Other Such Violations Committed in the Territory of Neighbouring States, between 1 January 1994 and 31 December 1994 (ICTR)

By resolution 955 (1994) of 8 November 1994, the Security Council established the ICTR for the prosecution of persons responsible for genocide and other serious violations of international humanitarian law committed in the territory of Rwanda between 1 January 1994 and 31 December 1994. Under the resolution, the international tribunal may also deal with the prosecution of Rwandan citizens responsible for genocide and other such violations of international law committed in the territory of neighbouring States during the same period. By resolution 2256 (2015), the Council welcomed the completion of the judicial work of the ICTR, which formally closed on 31 December 2015, completing its transition to the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals.

International Tribunal for the Prosecution of Persons Responsible for Serious Violations of International Humanitarian Law Committed in the Territory of the Former Yugoslavia since 1991 (ICTY)

By resolution 827 (1993) of 25 May 1993, the Security Council established the ICTY for the sole purpose of prosecuting persons responsible for serious violations of international humanitarian law committed in the territory of the former Yugoslavia during its breakup and subsequent conflicts.

International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals

The International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals was established by the Security Council through the adoption of resolution 1966 (2010) of 22 December 2010, to finish the work begun by ICTY and ICTR. It consists of two branches corresponding to the two tribunals. The ICTR branch, located in Arusha, Tanzania, commenced functioning on 1 July 2012. The ICTY branch is located in The Hague and commenced functioning on 1 July 2013.